Tire-rack brace



April-28, 1925f 1,535,857

J. O. ROB ERTS TIRE RAGK-BRACE Filed Au 22, 1925 .mullllllllllllPatented Apr. 28, 1925.

I a onnfdemcn aosaarsgor nnnrmsamim a f riannnox san a i Applicationille'd Au'gnst -22,-1-923. serial no. suason To aZlavhom-it'may concern:Be it known that I, JoHN Q; Edennrsya citizen of the United States,resldingi at Memphis,in the county 'of Shelbyand State of Tennessee,have invented certain new and useful EImpr-ovements =1nT1r'8RftCk"BI'a0eS;

and Ido hereby declare the following to be:

a full, clear, and e xactdescription of the invention, "such as willenable lothers-skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, a i v The presentinvention relates to improve ments in "Fordtire rackbraces in whichpro vision ism'ade foradequately sustainingfthesparetire rack on the rear of a Ford or other automobile.

p 7 At the; present, timev considerable I difficulty. iswexperienced insustaining the rear tire to fall and become loose from its fastenlugs.

The invention aims toprovide an additional support or brace for the tirerack connected at a point, namely the lower central part of the rack,where the brace will perform its function most effectively and wherebythe tire rack will be additionally supported thereby taking a part ofthe strain off the side supporting arms.

An object of the invention is to provide for economy in the provision ofthis brace and its ready mounting upon existing parts of the Fordautomobile.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claim appended I hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of portions of the rear of aFord autonel "3, thegspring *4 being also arched upwardly at its centralpart and the*channel ofnthe bar 7 3 being directed downwardly.Shacklesor U-bolts 4. and aresecured upon 1- opposite sides of thecentral portion Uftlm'upWfiIdliYbOWGd channel bar 3 for the purpose ofbinding thespring in place, these uibolts having, plates. 6 and 7.secured beneatlrthe openlowemportion of the chan* nel and passing acrossthe; open 1Ii0lliil1 of the channel.

The tire rack or carrier is indicated M2 8 horizontally and formingsubstantially a chord ,subtending' the arc which :is removed fron1.the;up 1j9er portion of. "the, circular frame or rank. The demountablerim with.

the spare'tire is'receivedon its rack in the usual way andm-ay beheld inplace byvl aassing a chain about it through which a lock issecured; a ai New this rack 8 isgenerallysupported by side arms 10, these arms beingsecured to the rack 8 about midway the height thereof and bolted orotherwise secured to the rear frame member 3 or other parts of theframe. The arms 10 are generally substantially in 'alinement with theside rails of the frame and they may extend for some distance alongthese side rails and be secured thereto and in any event the fasteningsand the area of the support is found inadequate and it will be notedthat there is no sup-port for the lower portion of the rack.

This lower portion therefore sags and the arms 10 become broken orloosed from their fastenings by reasons of the shocks and jars incidentto travel.

According to the invention a brace arm or rod 11 is connected to thelower portion of the rack and to the nearest point of support upon theframe which is found to be the channel bar 3. The brace rod 11 consistsof an intermediate diagonally disposed portion having the angula-rlybent ends 12 and 13. The upper end 12 is secured as by threading orotherwise into a block 14,

which is of a size and shape to fit beneath the intermediate portion ofthe spring 4 .and against the under portion of the chanwhich wings orextensions diverge downwardly in vorder to further agree with the archedshape of the bar and with the spring. These wings serve to further holdthe spring in place and they slip beneath the plates 6 and 7, beingpreferably provided, with,

slots 17 and 18 for taking further securing means. A lock nut 19 may beused to 'secure the end 12 of the brace in the block 14.

The lower end 13 of the brace is threaded and provided with nuts 20 and21 to bind upon opposite sides of the channel clamp members 22 and 23which are provided with extends downwardly and directly between the rearframe portion of the vehicle and the lower central part of the rack sothat the brace uniformly serves both sides of the tire rack and inconjunction with the arms 10 prevents sagging of the rack. The clampmembers and 23 and the block 14 provide for attaching the brace toexisting constructions or in other Words the device forms an attachmentwhich may be sold at accessory shops and secured to the machines withoutrequiring any change in constructlon.

It is obvious that various changes and "modifications maybe made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specificallydescribedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications be ing restricted only by the scope ofthe following claim.

What is claimed is In combination with a vehicle having a tire rack, apair of channel clamps having claws adapted to grasp the tire rack saidclamp having perforations therein, a rod having a lower angular threadedend adapted to be selectively engaged in the perforations and havingnuts on opposite sides of the clamp members for securing the rod to theclamp members and the clamp members together, a block secured to theupper angled end of said rod and adapted to fit beneath the archedchannel bar of the frame and having slotted diverging wings extendingfrom the upper side edges of the block, a spring fitted within thechannel bar and partially held in place by said slotted wings, andU-shape bolts having plates for securing said wings to the frame member.

JOHN QUINCE ROBERTS.

